Copwatch Kalgoorlie

A legal project aiming to empower Indigenous people by training communities to document instances of harassment by authority figures has arrived in Kalgoorlie on the anniversary of the death of a young Indigenous boy.

The Copwatch program was launched by the National Justice Project after raising more than $60,000 through a crowdfunding campaign.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter campaign in the US, the project wants to make police and other authority figures more accountable through social media.

The team has landed in Western Australia’s Kalgoorlie a year after a 14 year old Aboriginal boy was run over by a ute – speaking unrest and violence in the community.

Principal solicitor for the project George Newhouse says there has been little change since then.